You're The Only One Who Knows
by lilgulie5
Summary: It's the night of their Junior Prom, but for Quinn and Puck it is also something else. Set one year after the end of season one with some possible spoilers for season 2. ONESHOT


**A/N: Welcome everyone! I came up with this idea a few days ago and wrote it while in class today. This is a standalone oneshot so it doesn't have anything to do with my other story, other than the fact that it is about Quinn and Puck. This one is truer to what happened last season and what could possibly happen this season. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it! xo Katie**

**Disclaimer: I don't own glee.  
**

It was prom night. It was supposed to be one of the best nights of Quinn Fabray's high school career, but it was so much more. Friday, May 13th was also her daughter's first birthday and she was not with her to celebrate it. It had been her own choice. She could have kept her, could have at least tried, but Quinn gave Beth up with the hope that Shelby would be a better, more capable mother than a now seventeen year old could be. But deep down inside, she knew should could have at least tried. She could have done it. She knew she could have been good because Beth would have made her want to be better than she was. All of that went away when she hastily signed her name on the line under Puck's and wiped away the tears that were falling down her cheeks.

As soon as school was over for the year her mother had taken her to their time share in Florida and they had stayed there through all of June and July until Quinn had to come back for Cheerios practice. She has received and email mid-way through June from Coach Sylvester, saying that, if she was able to lose the baby weight, she could be back on the squad, but she would have to work to regain the position of head cheerleader.

Quinn was glad to get away from everything and everyone. She set her Facebook status to say where she was and then didn't touch it for two months. She answered texts only if they were important, but ignored them for the most part, especially if they were from Puck. She didn't know how to feel about him. The night their daughter was born, he had said that he loved her, but they hadn't talked in between then and when she'd left. In truth, it was far easier to try and forget what he said, forget that night altogether because all it did was remind her of Beth and that was just too painful at times.

Once she returned to school, Quinn tried to erase the entirety of sophomore year with the exception of glee club. She still enjoyed being part of the club and the friends she had made there. As the year progressed, she had slowly but surely regained her status and even beat out Santana for the position of head Cheerio during their mid-year evaluations.

Mostly, Quinn had decided to focus her attention on herself. She had spent the better part of the previous year being attached to or pining over Finn and then struggling through her indefinable relationship-if you could even call it that- with Puck. She wanted to be independent, wanted to be happy with herself and boys would just complicate that at the moment. Puck had tried multiple times to ask her out and she shut him down each and every time as nicely as she could. He didn't need to be with her anymore, she tried to tell him, there was nothing that bound him to her, no more obligations. When Quinn noticed that Puck had seemed to stop his endless pursuits of every girl at McKinley High, she just assumed he was growing up or something like that. They had finally reached a place where they could try and talk to one another without some of the awkwardness of the beginning of the year. At her request, Puck no longer tried to bring up Beth. All in all, Quinn finally thought she was in a good place.

Mercedes has easily convinced her that she didn't need a date to the prom. They had decided to go as a group with Kurt and his boyfriend Sam. What would be more fun than a night out with two awesome gay guys and her best friend? They rented a limo and gathered at Quinn's house for pictures. She tried not to care when Santana had come into Cheerios practice a few weeks before, gushing at the fact that Puck had agreed to go to the dance with her. What should she care? She had no attachment to him anymore, no claim to him, and yet…and yet she had to admit that she was still affected by it.

Quinn had tried hard not to let what she had told herself was in the past spoil her prom night. They were at the country club which was gorgeous, the dinner was superb and the beginning of the dance was wonderful as well. The DJ played a number of upbeat songs until about twenty-five minutes into the dancing when he started a slower song that Quinn instantly recognized as _Faithfully_. While everyone else was pairing off with their dates, Quinn was reminded of everything she didn't want to be reminded of that day. It brought her back to Regionals last year and the songs they sang, seeing her mother, going to the hospital, giving birth to her daughter, and giving her to Shelby. She suddenly felt hot, as tears began to pool in her eyes and her breath constricted in her chest. She excused herself from the dance floor with a forced smile and escaped to the nearby balcony that overlooked the lake and golf course. Quinn braced herself on the railing as the tears slid down her face. She attempted to regain her composure when she heard a voice from behind her.

"Are you OK?" Puck asked.

"Yeah," she replied quickly, trying as discreetly as possible to wipe away any signs of weakness. "Of course. I think the smoke machine was just getting to me. What are you doing here?"

"Quinn, you don't have to pretend with me. I know what today is. I saw you rush out and I wanted to make sure you were alright."

"It's just that song. I was fine until I heard that ridiculous song."

"Really? I've need kind of a mess all day."

"No, not really," Quinn admitted with a heavy sigh. "I've just been pushing it out of my mind. It's what I do best."

"I used to try and do that, but then I realized that I don't want to forget her."

"I don't either. You know, I can still remember what it feels like to hold her. Is that weird?"

"Hell no," Puck said, reaching behind him. "I carry this with me all the time."

He pulled a small, pink piece of cloth from his tux and held it out to Quinn. She knew right away that it was one of the little hats they had put on Beth soon after she was born.

"It used to smell like her, but I've carried it with me for so long that I think it wore off."

Quinn took the soft hat into her hands and brought it up to her nose, slowly breathing in the scent.

"No," she said softly. "It does still smell like her."

She reluctantly handed the cap back to Puck and reached for her clutch. Quinn fumbled around for a moment and pulled out a tiny hospital bracelet. Even though it was dark, Puck could still make out the words _Baby Girl Fabray-Puckerman_.

"I carry this with me all the time, too. It's gotten to the point where it's become automatic for me. I keep it with me so that, no matter how hard I try not to sometimes, I will always remember that for a short amount of time, she was mine, she was _ours,_ I mean."

Quinn placed the bracelet into Puck's hand. It looked so small in his large, warm hand and in her mind she could clearly see him holding Beth in his arms for the last time before they left and she began to cry again. As the sobs were racking her body, Quinn felt herself being gathered into Puck's embrace, his hand tracing small, soothing circles up and down her back as he tried to calm her.

"I'm sorry," she murmured into his tuxedo jacket.

"It's OK. Come on, let's get out of here."

"What about Santana?"

"Screw her. I only agreed to go with her because Puckerone doesn't go stag. Besides, I think I saw her head out into the hallway with Matt."

"I came in the limo."

"I have my truck. Do you want to leave?" he asked looking down at her.

"Yeah, I do," she replied. "Let's go."

Puck led Quinn to his truck and opened the door for her. She immediately pulled down the visor and opened the mirror in an attempt to salvage some of her eye make-up, but she had nothing to dab it with. Puck silently offered her tissues from his glove compartment and she smiled graciously at him.

"I'm a mess," she decided as she flung the visor back up.

"No you're not," he disagreed. "Where are we going?"

"Anywhere but here."

"You got it."

Turning on the ignition, Puck set the car into gear and drove away from the country club back into town when he got an idea. He pulled into the nearest 24-Hour grocery store parking lot and shut off the car.

"Wait here," he told Quinn. "I'll be right back."

She nodded silently, curious as to what he had planned. Not wanting her friends to worry about her, Quinn pulled out her phone and texted Mercedes that she had left and that she was OK. She laughed in spite of herself. This was not at all how she had planned on spending the night of her prom. It was supposed to be wonderful and magical and she was sitting in a grocery store parking lot in Puck's truck. Within five minutes he returned to the car and placed a bag in the backseat.

"What's in the bag?" she questioned.

"You'll see."

Puck set out once again, but this time, instead of continuing to drive into town, he drove out towards the park and forest preserve to a spot that overlooked the city. He motioned for Quinn to get out of the car and follow him. He grabbed the bag and a blanket from the backseat and spread it in his truck bed and helped Quinn climb up into it, not an easy feat since her prom dress was floor-length. Once he settled himself next to her, he pulled the contents from his bag one by one. First, an electric lighter, then a candle and finally a four pack of cupcakes. He removed one from the box and handed it to Quinn, despite the confusion on her face.

"We may not be able to be with Beth on her birthday, but I think we should still celebrate it."

"Me too," Quinn nodded. "We should make wishes for her."

Puck opened the candles and placed one in the center of the cupcake and lit in. The light from the candle created a warm glow that spread softly over Quinn's face and he could see a tear form on her cheek.

"I'll go first," he offered, and Quinn noticed a certain vulnerability in his eyes that she had never seen before. "I wish that Beth is happy and healthy and that Shelby let's her listen to music that isn't Broadway show tunes."

"That was nice," Quinn said and allowed herself to chuckle before growing solemn again. "I wish that one day Beth will know just how much I, _we, _love her."

"She will," Puck assured her as he reached out and held her hand in his. "I think we should blow out the candle now."

After they had finished all four of the cupcakes (Coach Sylvester would not be thrilled with her come Monday, but she didn't care) Quinn and Puck lay shoulder to shoulder on the blanket looking up at the stars.

"Do you blame me?" Quinn broke the silence.

"For what?"

"For wanting to give her up. I know you wanted to keep her."

"No," Puck replied. "I can't blame you, because I know you wanted to keep her, too. You were being the strong one though. You were being the good parent."

"You really think so?"

"Yeah, I do. You love her enough to know that we could never give her half the life she deserves."

"You love her just as much, Puck."

"Why didn't you return any of my calls over the summer?" he asked rolling towards her and propping himself up on his elbow.

"I was in Florida," Quinn replied as if by rote. "You knew that's where I was."

"Phones work in Florida. It's not like you were Timbuktu. I send you dozens of texts."

"I just couldn't. I was scared."

"Of what?" he gently prodded. "Of me?"

"Of seeing her every single time I look at you. Of having my heart break over and over and over again."

"I meant what I said in the hospital. I'm not just saying this because it's her birthday or because it's prom. I'm saying it because this is the first time since then that I've felt like I could say it to you."

"Say what?" Quinn asked looking him in the eyes.

"That I love you, then and now."

"If you loved me then, why were you sexting Santana?"

"Because you were with Finn. I didn't think you would ever leave him," Puck tried to explain. "Do you know that I haven't been with anyone since you moved out of my house?"

"That's been over a year."

"You're telling me."

"Why?"

"Because, I couldn't find anyone else who was worth it."

"Then why didn't you ask me to prom?" Quinn demanded, sitting up. "Why did you go with Santana?"

"I didn't ask you because you shut me down every other time I asked you out in the past year. If I thought you would have said 'yes' I would have asked you in a heartbeat."

"Ask me."

"What?"

"Ask me to the prom. It's still prom night isn't it?"

"Alright," Puck said as he pulled himself up. "Quinn Fabray, will you go to the prom with me?"

"I'd love to."

Puck jumped off of the truck bed, started his truck and selected a song from his iPod. The sound of The Fray's _I'll Look After You_ filled the air as he returned to Quinn.

"May I have this dance?"

Quinn smiled and took the hand that Puck offered to her and slid off the bed of the truck and into his arms as they slowly danced under the starlit sky to the music. When the song ended Puck placed a soft kiss on Quinn's forehead.

"You feel cold," he observed.

"It's a little chilly out here."

Puck slid off her jacket and wrapped it around Quinn's pale pink dress as they settled back into the car. Less than twenty minutes later they were standing on the front porch of her house, neither one of them wanting to make a move to leave.

"Thank you," Quinn said. "For everything tonight. I want to do this every year, no matter what."

"Me too," Puck replied, taking her hands in his. "So… what are we?"

"I don't know," she admitted. "I'm not really sure where we go from here, or what is going to happen."

"Me neither."

"But I do know one thing."

"What's that?"

"I can guarantee that if you ask me out again, I won't say no this time."

"Well," Puck smirked. "I'm not sure. I was enjoying my little hiatus from dating."

"Are you serious?" Quinn asked in disbelief.

"No. Can I take you to dinner tomorrow night?"

"I'd like that."

"Awesome," Puck replied and leaned into to kiss her softly.

"I'll see you tomorrow night," Quinn said as she pulled away and handed his jacket back to him. She disappeared behind the heavy wooden door and smiled to herself. What she had said was true. She didn't know what was in store for her but what did that matter, so long as she had someone to hold her hand along the way.


End file.
